Problem: Simplify the following expression: $ k = 1 + \dfrac{-4}{3p - 1} $
Answer: In order to add expressions, they must have a common denominator. Multiply the first expression by $\dfrac{3p - 1}{3p - 1}$ $ \dfrac{1}{1} \times \dfrac{3p - 1}{3p - 1} = \dfrac{3p - 1}{3p - 1} $ Therefore $ k = \dfrac{3p - 1}{3p - 1} + \dfrac{-4}{3p - 1} $ Now the expressions have the same denominator we can simply add the numerators: $k = \dfrac{3p - 1 - 4}{3p - 1} $ $k = \dfrac{3p - 5}{3p - 1}$